This week’s Spotlight interview shines on Daphne Slaughter, the Neurology Department’s newest grants and contracts manager. Slaughter talks to us about her work approving expenses, communicating policy updates, and reviewing current and upcoming projects with our principal investigators. Slaughter also talks about how her previous work with the Department of Pediatrics at UNC-Chapel Hill, as well as her volunteer work with Little Pink Houses of Hope when she’s not at work.
What are your current responsibilities as our grants and contracts manager?
My pre-award work includes timely submission of proposals for Neurology faculty; my post-award activities are mainly project management such as projection reports, daily approvals of expenses and journal vouchers and closeouts of funds. My work also includes ongoing communication of updates and changes to policy and procedure at sponsor level (i.e. NIH) as well as Duke. I also hold meetings with principal investigators (PIs) /project team or department to review status of active projects, upcoming submission and any outstanding issues.
What does a typical day look like for you?
There is no typical day per se. There’s a “to-do” list that I set out to do but, often something else comes up in a day that can take precedence.
What were you doing before you came to the Neurology Department? How does that experience compare to the work you’re doing now?
I was an administrative officer with the Department of Pediatrics at UNC-Chapel Hill supporting the faculty/principal investigators within the Childrens’ Research Institute. At Duke, I will assist PIs with their research portfolios much like I did at UNC. The one part of my job that will be different, that I am most excited about, is the opportunity to mentor other grants and contracts administrators. As a grants and contracts manager now, I will be able to share my experiences and knowledge in the hopes to make training for the young administrators even better than what I had.
What’s one surprising thing about your work?
It’s very hard to explain to people what I do.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love that the field of research is always challenging. I am continually learning and growing in my career. I enjoy being able to support the faculty in their projects.
What’s the hardest part of your work?
Having to depend on other departments within Duke or outside of Duke to supply information or answers so that my job can be done efficiently and effectively.
What other passions or hobbies do you have outside of the Department?
I work with Little Pink Houses of Hope. The mission of Little Pink (LP) is to provide week-long retreats for breast cancer survivors and their families in hopes of a much needed respite from schedules of appointments, treatments and burden of the cost of it all. But they also find hope and joy in a supportive and caring place surrounded by people that understand their journey.
Just this last week was the first retreat in the Topsail, NC area. WWAY TV3 did a feature story. Besides the retreats for LP, I volunteer locally to help out in any way I can such as the yearly gala or fundraising events. I also enjoy spending as much time as I can with family at the beach. We just love it.
Slaughter and her family enjoy a visit to the Outer Banks.